Aerobic glycolysis in bone: lactic acid production by rat calvaria cells in culture.

Considerable data have been accumulated on aerobic glycolysis of intact bone preparations. To test whether aerobic glycolysis is a feature of the bone cells themselves or of the localized conditions within an intact bone, cells isolated from rat calvaria were cultured and the effect of several factors on lactate production was determined. These cells drastically decreased lactate production when the pH in the culture medium was lowered, changing from 100 to 20 percent for a pH shift from 7.4 to 6.75. L-lactate inhibited its own formation by 40 percent at 20 mM. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) (820 U/mg) at a concentration ranging from 0.2 to 5.0 U/ml stimulated slightly the lactate production in a log-linear response, the ratio treated over control changing from 1.1 to 1.3. The maximal stimulation is observed at pH 7.0. Isolated cells respond qualitatively the same as did intact calvaria. Quantitatively, there were significant differences: notably, a smaller response to parathyroid hormone and a higher sensitivity to lowered pH.